740 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 12 



vation of the corn crop throujrh the summer to 

 plough so deep as lo disturb the nuuuire. prefer- 

 ring that it should decompose whhout exposure to 

 the suu and rain. By this means it is ([ beheve) 

 in a better prepared state for the wheat crop that 

 liillovvs. Aller the rorn crop is taken off. I have 

 the rrround ploughed deep so as to mix the ma- 

 nure well wilh the earth, sow broadcast and har- 

 row in. By this course I have raised from sixty 

 to seventy bushels of rorn per acre the first year, 

 and from twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat, 

 following the corn crop, and frotn land that would 

 not previously produce oats worth cutting. I pre- 

 fer ploughing in the fall as above stated, under the 

 impression that the eggs of insects previously de- 

 posited are in a measure destroyed hv being ex- 

 posed to wet and frosts of winter. Bv adoptinsr 

 this course I have never had my corn injured with 

 the cut worm — some farmeis are opposed to 

 ploughing in the fall, because fas they say) the 

 ground becomes grassy and difficult afterwards to 

 keep under — this I know by experience is the fiict, 

 and the reason is a want of proper attention on the 

 part of the farmer — if he will harrow his jrround 

 well directly after it is ploufrhed. and again in the 

 spring, he will not be troubled with grass — at least 

 I find it 60. In harrowing in the spring. T place a 

 •weight on so as to loosen the ground to the sward, 

 or as deep as can conveniently be done; the 

 ground by this means is placed in good order not 

 only for covering the corn, but gives room for the 

 easy spreading of its fibrous roots while young 

 and tender, and of course comes up better and 

 stronger than when the ground is not well pul- 

 verized. 



In the exception alluded to above, the lime was 

 applied by itself, not having any manure to spare 

 at that time. It was a lot of eleven acres of poor 

 ■worn out land, and not wishing that it should lie 

 useless, I concluded to try the effects of lime by 

 itself— for this purpose I had the ground prepared 

 and ploughed in the spring, and understanding 

 that poor land would not bear much lime, I deter- 

 mined to ascertain that fact for my own satisfac- 

 tion. I commenced putting on at the rate of one 

 hundred bushels of fresh vallev lime per acre, 

 gradually reducing; finished at sixty bushels— the 

 lime was slacked, and spread immediately and 

 sown with oats, harrowing it in. The crop was 

 unusually large, and had to be cut whh the naked 

 scythe, being all laid, (or lodged.) Where the 

 most lime was put the crop was best, and so con- 

 tinued to produce in succeeding crops for many 

 years afterwards. 



The lime used in the improvement of mv farm 

 was from the Great Valley (in Pennsylvania) 

 near Downmgtown. which is considered of .mod 

 rpjality lor land. Of late years I have used "oys- 

 ter shell and Schuylkill lime— the former I have 

 had burnt on the firm, having a kiln lor that pur- 

 pose. The refuse wood only is used, say at the 

 rate of lA cords for 600 bushels of lime— the cost 

 when burned does not exceed eight cents per 

 bushel— ihe quantity per acre, froTn 150 to 200 

 bushels, the laiier quantity I coi^sider fully equal 

 10 100 bushels of stone lime, and the rnst less, 

 having to give with us 2.5 cts. for the Vallev lime' 

 Schuylkill can be had for 17 els. burnt with coal^ 

 or 20 els. burtil with wood, but it is generally too 

 much slacked by the time it reaches ns. and in 

 some instances (on being analyzed) is found to 



contain too great a proportion of magnesia. It 

 would be well for our agricultural societies to turn 

 their ailention to this subject; and publish the re- 

 sult of their labors. 



The fiirrn on which I reside is of primitive for- 

 mation — situation high — the soil naturally poor, 

 composed of clay, sand and gravel, varying as to 

 mixture n;ore or less in the ditl'erent fields. 



Edward Tatnall, 



Brandywine, lOth mo., 9th, 1830, 



Extract From ttie Edinburgh FSrftiers' Magazine, 

 EARLY SOWN GRAIN HAS LESS STRAW, COM- 

 PARED TO THE GRAIN, THAN LATE. 



Early smving produces less straxo than late 

 sowing, and that in exact proportion to the times 

 (cceieris paribus). — The knowledge of this prin- 

 ciple which has not been discovered, at least not 

 attended to, till within the last twenty years, is of 

 much iiuportance to the liirmer. Before it was 

 known and practised, the hazard of sowing land 

 in a very high state of cultivation was very great,. 

 Oats or barley sown in such condition, at the usual 

 period of seed time as formerly, viz. oats, late in 

 March, and barley about the term of Whitsun- 

 day, would have been often entirely ruined by be- 

 ing too strong. English barley (commonly from' 

 Lincolnshire) atid Dutch and many other early 

 kinds of oats, were adopted without changing the 

 time of sowing : and as these have a terrdency to 

 produce shorter straw, they were found of much 

 advantage in securing a full crop without lodging. 

 But it is found that any of our oats sown early, 

 produce a shorter and stiffer straw, which has the 

 same effect. Early oats, however, are still much 

 in vogue. The Lincoln barley is almost out of 

 repute. It is well known to some farmers, that the 

 common Scotch barley is the best substituteforit — 

 as, when sown early, its straw becomes shorter, 

 much stiffer, and less apt to lodge. Potato oats 

 are a new species introduced within these very few 

 years; and are said to be natives of South Ame- 

 rica. It appears they were first imported into some 

 of our Midland counties of Scotland, in a quantity 

 extremely small; and that they obtained that name 

 from the circumstance of their arriving in di pack- 

 age of potatoes. This is a valuable kind of oats 

 in point of meal, yielding two to three pecks per 

 boll more than the Angus, which, in every other 

 respect, we reckon our best oa's. They appear 

 to be again losing ground in the estimation of some 

 people. They are more apt than any other kind 

 to keep the soil, like wild oats, at^d thereby to an- 

 noy the succeeding crops. It seems to be appre- 

 hended that, were they to be frequently shaken 

 and ploughed in dry, that they would be as a great 

 a weed too. They seem to have another disad- 

 vantage, which in the present circumstances of 

 our labor, is not a small one. They ripen along 

 wilh the wheat ; and that article being now more 

 than ever the chief object of the fiirmer, it is in 

 danger of occasioning very serious consequences 

 as to the timeous cutting of that crop. Potato 

 oats are also extremely apt lo shake, and seldom 

 fail to drop in shearing. AH kinds of early oats are 



